I stomped my feet in chalk to absorb the dampness and watched as the powdery white smoke formed a cloud around my shins. I was next to perform.

My palms were clammy, and my body was jittery. I had an abundance of adrenaline pumping through me and shaky nerves to combat against it. I was worked up and excited, eager yet wired, but I also felt like I had eighty-seven shots of caffeine streaming through my veins.

Kova had walked with me to the end of the vault runway. I tightened my wristbands and shook out my legs as I listened to him speak only to me, giving me last-minute tips and reminders. Holly had already gone, so had Reagan. Holly took a giant step to the right, while Reagan stuck her landing. Naturally.

Now, it was my turn.

"Remember, you start a foot back. Long and low into the board. Get your body over and hands on the table fast so you get a good block. As soon as you hit the flight peak—remember to glue your ankles together—crank as hard and as fast as you can."

I nodded hastily at Kova's directions and tightened the Velcro across my wrists. I'd started using wristbands for vault not too long ago, similar to the ones I had for bars, only these were padded and used to support my wrist from the huge block I needed to gain height. It also helped with the pinching and tenderness I had in my wrists after working tumbling passes on the floor for hours on end, but Kova didn't know about that.

"Breathe through your stomach," Kova suggested, a soothing tone meant to ease my worries. I looked at him with gratitude and my nerves immediately calmed down.

Kova placed his hands on my shoulders, bent down, and looked squarely into my eyes.

"Focus. Do not crack. You got this."

I nodded again, eyes alert but words escaped me. Kova walked away, back to where the team and coaches were, while I stood at the end of the runway. I shot a glance at the judges’ table. Three women of various ages in blue dress suits and stiff posture communicated over a table of papers and pencils as they decided on Holly's score. My stomach tightened. My heart was racing a mile a minute, pounding fervently against my chest while I waited for them to give me the green light.

Here we go.

Expelling a deep breath, I got behind the white line I'd drawn with chalk earlier and fixated my gaze explicitly on the vault. I shook my hands out.

Be defiant, echoed in my head. Drop the fear.

A wall came down and I envisioned my outcome. Lifting my arms, I saluted the judges and swallowed away everything except for what I was about to do. Within seconds, I was speeding down the runway, heading toward the large stationary object I was about to flip over. I tightened every muscle in my body as I pumped my legs, running as fast as I could. Within ten feet or so, I stretched my hurdle to prepare for the round-off, and everything Kova and Madeline had taught me came roaring at me. It hit me like a ton of bricks and everything locked into place. Muscle memory took over and both feet punched the springboard hard. I sprung back onto the vault where I blocked the hardest I'd ever blocked in my life and reached for the ceiling, preparing to twist into an Amanar. My block was like a rocket taking off. I got the flight Kova said I always needed, and I knew right then and there this was going to be a good vault. Squeezing tight, ankles glued together, I pulled hard and completed the two and a half twists required of this skill and spotted for the floor. I opened up and landed with both feet together on the blue mat, my arms raised above my head, and stuck my dismount. I nailed it. I fucking nailed it. Every muscle in my body was firm and solid as I saluted without a wobble or hop. I tried to veil the smile that slowly spread across my face, but executing and sticking the Amanar wasn't easy.

And I knew in my gut I had done extremely well.

Cheering erupted almost immediately, I could hear my teammates shouting their praise. Turning, I saluted unimpressed judges once more before stepping off the landing mat to look for my coach.

Kova wore a contagious grin with his hand in the air to high five me.

"Quite possibly the best vault I have seen you do to date." My eyes turned to wide saucers. His words shot through me. "I could not find even one thing to pick at."

"Really?" I was stunned. He nodded, brows raised high with a huge smile on his face.

"It was fantastic. It should put you in the top three, maybe two."

My heart leaped as I considered his words while I walked back to the end of the runway again. I repeated the motions in my head, visualizing myself as I waited for the okay to go. I applied more chalk, a nervous habit. It was crazy how fast feet could sweat in a such a short amount of time.

My score flashed, and I looked at the screen. I knew to keep my face neutral, but my heart wavered for a split second. The displeased crowd put their feelings on display, alerting the judges they were not happy. Chills shot down my arms. My empty stomach tossed around.

It wasn’t what I had hoped for, I was pleased with it, but I wanted better.

Kova threw his hands in the air, grimacing at the numbers. His eyes hardened as he glared at the judges and yelled, wanting to know where they found an error.

Typical coach behavior. They all did it.

Once the judges were ready, I didn't waste any time. I swiped the excess chalk from my hands and moved straight into the second vault. Putting everything I could muster into it, I executed another Amanar and stuck the landing. It felt incredible, like I did it just as well as the first one. I saluted the judges and turned toward my team and coaches, stepping down the three steps to where they were. This time I didn't smile. I didn't show emotion. And I certainly didn't get my hopes up.

I spotted Kova first. The dark specks in his irises looked like black diamonds glistening against the energetic green.

It was clear. Kova was proud. And that made me so happy.

I slapped his hand and he pulled me into a quick hug.

"Excellent work, Adrianna." I drew in the scent of his cologne and felt his words deep inside.

Madeline strode over with her hands out and eyes wide, silently questioning me. There was a slight glimmer there. She pulled me into a hug. "Where did that come from?" she asked, sounding extremely satisfied and astonished. "You exploded off that table like you invented the skill. Well done, girly."

"Thank you," was all I could say through a toothy grin. My score went up and it couldn't have been better. Both coaches yelled their enthusiasm, and a massive smile split my cheeks. It pushed Reagan out of first place and down to second, third place held by another team's gymnast. I wasn't ahead by much, but it was enough to secure first place, for now.

"Not bad, Rossi," Reagan said without looking at me. "But I'd be careful with how you and Kova look at each other the rest of the meet. He has hunger in his eyes."

I deadpanned. "Hunger, Reagan? Who says that. And if I saw correctly, he looked at you just the same. And Holly. Stop trying to read into something that isn't there just because you're pissed I knocked you out of the standings."

I didn't give her a chance to respond. And I didn't wait for her. I stood and grabbed my bag, placing it over my shoulder and walked to the next rotation.

Up next were the uneven bars. Once I secured my grips, I began pacing up and down the athlete area to keep my body warm and loose. My arms swung from side to side, and I hiked up my knees, jumping around. I didn't watch other competitors, and I didn't look in the stands for familiar faces. I kept my focus on my team and my routines and what my coaches instructed. That's it.

Like vault, I excelled at bars, but the ricketiness of them on podium rocked me a bit. I could see a subtle give and take while Holly connected skills, flowing from one bar to the other, releasing it with force only to grab it again.

It was mind over matter. Always mind over matter when it came to gymnastics. I knew this. But it was never that easy.

Holly's dismount was seconds away, which meant I had a handful of minutes until it was my turn.

"You are your only limit," Kova said quietly behind me. I glanced over my shoulder and turned around.

A small smile tipped my lips and I tightened my ponytail. "Are you going to say inspirational quotes before each event?"

He shrugged. "They are not inspirational when I mean them." He hesitated for a moment, then said, "I like seeing you smile."

I glanced away, trying not to let his words affect me. "You know, Reagan said something to me about how you look at me."

Kova muttered under his breath in Russian. There was a sting to his words, a bite, and after witnessing him and Katja argue a few times, I knew whatever he said wasn't pleasant. Though, he was just as good as I was at concealing his facial expressions. No one would’ve suspected anything.

"What was that?"

"Nothing you need to hear. What did you say to her?"

"That she was acting like a sore loser since I knocked her out of the vault standings." I wasn't going to mention her diet pill issue, even though I'd love nothing more than to rat her out.

He nodded. "Let us go. Your turn is next."

Without hesitation, Kova walked up onto the platform with me like he belonged there. We parted ways. He stood off to the side while I took a stance in front of the low bar. I'd told him earlier I didn't need him to spot, and I didn't, but I knew he was just trying to help calm my nerves since I wasn't used to everything being so unsteady. Which I appreciated.

Saluting the judges, I glided into a kip then cast to a handstand, smoothly swinging under the bar, a free hip circle to another handstand, then released and flowed to the high bar. Once on the high bar in a handstand, I saw Kova move in for my big release. Being there and doing nothing, for whatever reason, seemed to ease a gymnast’s mind. A coach would never allow the gymnast to perform a skill they hadn't mastered a thousand times, but it also didn't mean that they weren't scared as shit at the same time.

It meant they were human.

Inhaling through my nose while in a handstand on the high bar, my chest hollowed out and I swung down. From the corner of my eye I saw Kova step in. My toes tapped hard to gain momentum at the bottom of the swing where I pushed my chest and hips forward to create an arch with my body. Right when I was parallel with the bar with an extended body, I let go and flipped through the air over the bar. The bar snapped back to give me a bit more of a thrust and I spotted for it as I came over and down, grasping it. Chalk dusted the air, specks hit my eyes as I breathed it in, and soared back up to a handstand seconds later.

Kova didn’t step away as two more release moves were coming up back-to-back. He knew everyone's routines by heart. Once those were done, he backed off and crouched down, critiquing my form from a different angle. Everything flowed so effortlessly after that.

With two giants left and a dismount, I gave it my all and landed my dismount with a very small, slight hop. I saluted the judges and turned.

"Not bad, but not as great as vault," Kova said simply as I stepped to him, his hand cupping the small of my back. "There will be a few deductions, but not enough to keep you out of the standings."

I removed my grips. "Sometimes I wish you would just lie to me. You know how stressed I've been over this meet."

"We have never lied to each other before, I am not going to make things more complicated by giving you false hope now. Do not mistake me, it was good, maybe even great, just not fantastic."

I sighed. He had a point. I never wanted lies.

"Where did I mess up?"

Sometimes I could tell, sometimes I couldn't.

"We will talk later. I have to go."

I nodded. There really wasn't much time to have a conversation. Kova sped over to Sarah, who was up next and always needed a spot.

My score flashed on the high screen.

I stood there, motionless and stunned, stone-faced with my jaw hanging open. Kova said it wasn't bad, but it was better than good because I was now in first place, again, not only helping me, but helping my team's overall score as well. Happiness spread through my chest, warmth filling me with such satisfaction I could barely see straight. I grinned from ear to ear and looked for Kova, who gave me a satisfied nod with a deep dip of his chin, then set his focus back on Sarah.

Madeline made a beeline for me. She wrapped her arms around my shoulders and pulled me into a bear hug, praising me on my form and score.

My heart was about near ready to burst. This was going better than I had expected. I needed a minimum score to test elite, and so far, I was on the right track. And through it all, I stayed relatively calm thanks to Kova. Deep down I knew he had more to do with my composed attitude than I was giving him credit for.

Looking up toward the spectators, I finally caved and searched for my parents but soon stopped. The meet was packed, not an empty seat, and finding them would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Floor was next.

Kova placed a hand on my shoulder as we walked side by side. "I know you want to take less steps in your tumbling passes, but you need to make sure that you use the length of the floor."

"I know."

It was true—if I didn’t extend my body and use up the floor, not only would it throw off my routine, but it would earn me a deduction. The thing was, I got so much height as it was that I didn't want to step out of bounds either.

"Your perception will be off since we are on podium. Everything is going to be bouncier and harder to absorb the landing."

I nodded quickly, then walked onto floor. I jumped a few times, feeling the spring beneath my feet. It was much spongier, but I was confident I had it under control.

Once the judges gave me the okay, I stepped onto the royal blue carpeted floor and took my stance.